Confused about AGE discrimination

hello everyone, im not sure if this is the right place to past this so mods do your thing.

Ok so I'am a 21 year old male still in college, and I work for this hardware store where I'am the second youngest guy there, the youngest is 16 years old still in high school. the rest of the gentlemen there are 40-89 years old. I have been working there for 2 years and now is when I'm starting to notice AGE DISCRIMINATION but not towards the older men, but towards us the young guys.

At work we get certain tasks specifically for us the two young guys to clean the inside and outside of store while helping the customers, we also get most of the "bitch" work like sitting for about 3-4 hours in an area with barely any air conditioning (mind you were in Miami Florida) wearing gloves and a mask filling up about 100, 5g containers with cement, thinset, and other things that normally comes in bags.

Inventory is coming up (which is to count every single item in the store) and the young guys (my buddy and I) and the manager which happens to be the denying father of my girlfriend and her twin sister, only tells the young guy and I to start fixing everything for inventory. strange that he doesn't ask anyone while his making it a big deal for us.

Another thing I noticed is that all these older men stand around talking and not doing any work, (I get the best reviews from headquaters and customers, and I'am the only one that has gotten a raise in the store) so these older guys are always gather up in the front counter talking and the few times the young guy and I stop to say something to each other, My manager always comes up to us and tells us you guys are always talking and don't do any work. I was really offended by this cause I'am a really hard working guy.

So my question is, does age discrimination at work applies to any age group?

I wonder the same thoughts from time to time. I know it say some were in law that they can't discriminate against due to your age while still in the hiring stage but no ideal about while on the job. It would be a hard matter to prove tho, it would boil down to his word vs. mine kinda thing.

reply to post by ^anubis^


What on Earth does this have to do with ATS Board Business??

The older workers have a better chance of getting hurt in the job.

It's only natural young blood.

Your circumstance would be much worse if, instead of being the only "young guy" you were the only "guy".

But here, specifically, I'm the type that would chastise these old men to no end. I would even refer to myself as the only man in the store that did any "man" work. How tiring it is to work in a hardware store full of women that can't actually do the tasks required. "You want me to what? Oh, is so-n-so bleeding again today? Okay..."

reply to post by TreadUpon


funny thing is the lady that works in the ware house she can't lift heavy things or doesn't use the cardboard compressor so I have to do those things for her too

reply to post by ^anubis^

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) protects certain applicants and employees 40 years of age and older from discrimination on the basis of age in hiring, promotion, discharge, compensation, or terms, conditions or privileges of employment. The ADEA is enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

US Dept of Labor

You are not seeing age discrimination, you are just paying your dues. When those old guys were 21, they were paying their dues. You might be the brightest and most energetic and willing to work guy in there. You might get promoted fast, you might get Kudos from customers and corporate, but no matter what you do, you will still just be the young buck, and you don't understand anything yet, LOL!

No offense, but experience is valuable. Working "smarter" instead of "harder" is valuable. When I was 21, I hated this old maintenance guy that I had to work with. I was way better at my job than he was. Every machine operator requested me to come fix their machine, yet I made less money and worked way harder than the old guy. I also constantly ridiculed him, and ignored his advice, and worked my tail off to prove I was better. He was patient with me, and once in awhile he would see me struggling, and he would quietly lay a tool down next to me and not say a word. When I finally wore myself out, I would pick up his tool, and realize how easy the job was with the proper tool. Over a few years, my ego settled down, and I learned to listen and observe, and respect the guys that had been in my shoes.

Be patient, pay your dues, and be happy that you have some old guys around to mentor from.

It's not really an age thing, it is more of a social status ladder thing. You are young, and not born into a super rich family(I assume), so basically you will have to fight and claw your way up that social ladder from the bottom.

reply to post by getreadyalready


makes sense but it would make more sense if they hired older people that knew where everything is and how to do thing and speak english, they are always asking me how to's....